New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

We first saw the Rouge Tomate cart at last year’s Taste of the Parks event, where the NYC Parks Dept were showing off some of the new vendors in various NYC parks.  The Rouge Tomate cart served a chilled white gazpacho soup made with cucumbers, grapes, almonds and whole yogurt pureed into a small, delicious taste of 3 or 4 bites.

Rouge Tomate is a restaurant at 10 East 60th St, but their cart is on 5th Ave at 64th St, right outside the Central Park Arsenal and one of the Central Park Zoo entrances.

We heard the cart opened last week, and the menu was totally revamped.  Instead of grilled cheese, BLT’s and other sandwiches, they switched to burgers, and one in particular caught our eye – the Moroccan chicken burger for $8.

(credit: NYSF)

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Wooly's Ice wins Best Dessert (credit: NYSF)

Update - Just heard from Danny, and they hit a snag with their opening.  They will be back out very soon, and we will keep you updated on exactly when.

Last year’s Vendy Award Winner for Best Dessert, Wooly’s Ice, will be coming out of hibernation and kicking off their season on Tuesday, May 1st.

Danny (middle of photo) from Wooly’s Ice told us about some changes in store for this season, including their location and a new menu item.

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(credit: NYSF)

I have been to the My Biryani cart on 44th St just west of 6th Ave a few times, but never tried their kati rolls.  Time to remedy that situation.  The “gold standard” for kati rolls is Biryani Cart exactly two blocks north, but I already know how good those are.

My Biryani seemed like a ripoff of Biryani Cart when they first came out in August 2010, but seem to have come into their own recently.  In addition to kati rolls and biryani, they now have two “lunch boxes” (one meat and one veggie), which have 3 different types of Indian food in each lunch box.  The meat one looked particularly interesting with chicken tikka masala, palak chicken (a spinach base) and dal over rice for $6.

The chicken, “lamb” or veggie kati rolls, which are $3.50 each or 2 for $6.  I wasn’t in the mood for gyro meat (‘lamb”), so I got one each of chicken and veggie.

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One of the better and more unique vendors in midtown is the Trini-Paki Boys cart on the south side of 43rd St just east of 6th Ave.  They serve a good chicken over rice dish, but their daily specials are what you should ask about before ordering.

There could be jerk chicken, goat curry, chicken tikka masala, beef stew, oxtail stew, shark bake (not actually shark), or any number of other Caribbean and Pakistani dishes. You see the food is a combination of cuisines, just as the married owners are – one is Trinidadian and one is Pakistani.

Several of these specials were available when I recently visited, and I went for a small portion of chicken tikka masala for $6 and a Trinidadian double for $2.

Inside a Trinidadian double (credit: NYSF)

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(credit: NYSF)

Yesterday we told you about what we thought was a new food truck from the sibling team behind the Bian Dang and Fishing Shrimp trucks.

Last night we ventured out to 4th Ave & President St in Brooklyn to see for ourselves, and found a brand new food cart.  The way things are going in NYC with food trucks these days, a cart is a cheaper and safer way to go.  Then you only have to worry about other vendors, not the police too.

It was only their 2nd day on the street, and they want to roll things out slowly, so they only had one item, Five Spice Pork Belly Buns.  They cost $3 each.

Click through to find out how it was, as well as to get a look at their future menu.

Pork bun at the cart (credit: NYSF)

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